亚利桑那州共和党参议员候选人卡莉·莱克正在准备一场可能与民主党众议员鲁本·加莱戈竞争她警告说，这将变得“令人讨厌”，因为她倾向于前总统唐纳德·特朗普的“美国优先”政策。
“我将在接下来的七个月里拼命工作。你们都知道我在州长竞选中做到了。莱克周二在她主持的一场庆祝特朗普的“胜利派对”上说:“我会更加努力地工作。”随后有人向舞台上虚假地喊道:“你赢了!”
莱克在2022年亚利桑那州州长竞选中以微弱优势输给了民主党人凯蒂·霍布斯，此前他在移民、投票和其他问题上担任煽动者。但既没有承认那次失败，也没有承认特朗普在2020年输给总统乔·拜登。
相反，她让支持者为“2024年11月5日的大规模选举”做好准备。
周二，她呼吁共和党人、无党派人士和“不满的民主党人”加入“美国优先”运动——这比她之前的“MAGA”品牌略有软化——以击败她称为“迷你乔·拜登”的加莱戈。
“我认为这里没有人100%同意乔·拜登的观点，除了鲁本，”她说，试图将加莱戈描绘成在犯罪和边境安全问题上软弱的人。“这两者之间真的没有什么区别——除了可能是50岁或60岁，可能是8或9英寸高。”
与此同时，加莱戈周二在华盛顿举行了一场新闻发布会，敦促共和党人通过两党边境立法，收紧移民法。这是他第六次代表安全的民主党选区担任国会议员。一些保守派人士认为，这还不够。
他把前新闻主播莱克描绘成一个“失败者”和“极端分子”，同时讲述了他作为一名海军陆战队员和移民之子的经历。
本周，他在社交媒体上抨击莱克是“选举否认者和阴谋论者”，引用了她对2020年和2022年竞选的毫无根据的攻击。
他们预计将在11月举行的大选将在华盛顿受到密切关注，因为选举结果可能有助于决定对分歧严重的参议院的控制权。
虽然莱克和加莱戈没有参加亚利桑那州周二的投票——他们的初选将于7月30日举行——但她告诉她的支持者们要做好准备，今年“无论是通过邮寄投票，还是亲自投票”经过先前的询问邮寄选票的完整性。
“我们不能举手说系统不起作用。当然不会，”她声称。“但我们需要走出去，让更多的人投票。”
然而，在随后对记者的讲话中，莱克重申了她之前的立场，即她希望看到单一的选举日，尽管提前邮寄投票至少三十年来一直是亚利桑那州非常流行的方法。
“我想回到选举日...但我们现在不在那个世界里，”她说。
亚利桑那州参议院议长沃伦·彼得森(Warren Peterson)在周二的选举派对上与莱克站在一起，他可能很清楚70%以上的亚利桑那州人通过邮件投票，他很快就加入了进来。
“听到特朗普总统鼓励人们提前投票，我很受鼓舞。”他说，并补充说，“我填好(我的选票)后立即上交，对我来说，这是我能为帮助我的候选人所做的最好的事情，因为这样你就不会再花钱试图让我投票了。”
彼得森说:“共和党人过去在提前投票选票上是绝对领先的，我认为我们这次将做到这一点。
同一个人
莱克在竞选州长失败后贬低了该州的共和党人，如已故参议员约翰·麦凯恩(John McCain)，她是否在重塑自己的形象，这取决于被问及的人，她面临着批评或赞扬。
“我还是以前的我，”她周二告诉美国广播公司新闻。“我非常关心这个伟大的州，我关心我的家人。我关心我们的未来，关心美国宪法。我努力让更多的人团结在一起，但我没有任何改变。”
2024年2月29日，亚利桑那州共和党参议员卡里·莱克在凤凰城举行的新闻发布会上回答问题。
丽贝卡·诺布尔/盖蒂图片社
当天早些时候，当莱克投票支持特朗普成为2024年共和党提名人时，另一名记者问她是否后悔过去在该州对共和党人的任何言论，她表示一些评论是错误的，但没有完全同意。
“我们都是人。我们会犯错。偶尔，我也会。我并不完美，我也不想伤害感情。但政治是一场混乱的游戏，有时事情会被说出来。
莱克最近在社交媒体上联系了麦凯恩的女儿、评论员梅根·麦凯恩，他迅速驳回了莱克的上诉.
参加莱克观察党的州参议院主席彼得森说，他看到了一个不断进步的政治家。
“我看到Kari Lake正在学习，她正在进步，就像我们所有人一样，”他说。“我们一直在学习，每天都在进步。现在我看到她正在做的是，她真的专注于扩大基础，团结共和党人，这就是她领先的原因，也是她将获胜的原因。”
从2022年开始前进?
随着莱克竞选参议员，她还提升了特朗普支持者亚伯·哈马德的竞选活动，后者在2022年亚利桑那州司法部长的竞选中以微弱优势落败，目前正在竞选第八国会选区.
当被问及前参议院候选人布莱克·马斯特斯时，莱克似乎对这个问题感到惊讶。他在2022年与莱克和哈马德一起竞选失败，但现在也在竞选与哈马德相同的国会席位。
不久前，她宣传了一张“莱克和布莱克”的门票，之后她称之为“随机”。
“我甚至不记得上次和他说话是什么时候了，”她告诉ABC新闻。“我甚至还没有听说他是否参选，他是否得到了签名。他投票了吗?不确定。我们会找到答案的。...我支持阿部·哈马德竞选那个国会席位。”
马斯特斯周三告诉ABC新闻，他没有考虑他与莱克的关系。
他在一条短信中写道:“几周前我儿子出生后，卡莉非常友好地联系了我——我们进行了一次愉快的交流，我非常感谢她的良好祝愿。”“我专注于在(我的选区)获胜，然后帮助我们的共和党提名人在这个关键州的选票上取得胜利。”
去年8月，有报道称马斯特斯正在考虑再次竞选参议员，莱克在X上发帖称，他对选举欺诈问题“相当沉默”。(马斯特斯是亚利桑那州唯一一位定期与莱克竞选并承认失败的共和党候选人。)
莱克周二没有要求人们为她正在进行的选举挑战捐款多次被拒绝。相反，她要求支持者像她“每天每餐”做的那样为特朗普祈祷，并为他的竞选捐款。其中几名支持者还戴着“让美国再次伟大”棒球帽。
她说，“恶魔正努力想把他打倒，他不会屈服的。”
她还表示，在有传言称特朗普上周末将前往凤凰城之后，她已经与特朗普就前往亚利桑那州进行了交谈，“希望很快就能这样做”，之后他将前往俄亥俄州与参议院候选人伯尼·莫雷诺(Bernie Moreno)一起竞选(莱克周一在俄亥俄州也做了同样的事情)。
她说:“他还参加了其他竞选活动，帮助了一些他支持的人——我今天没有参加投票，所以我们可以等一等。”“我们将耐心地等待特朗普总统来到亚利桑那州。”
Kari Lake zeroes in on likely Senate race with Ruben Gallego, insisting, 'Nothing's changed in me'
Arizona Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake is gearing up for alikely contest against Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego, one she's warned will get "nasty," by leaning into former President Donald Trump's "America First" policies.
"I'm going to spend the next seven months working my tail off. You all know I did that in the governor's race. I'm going to work even harder," Lake said Tuesday at a "victory party" she hosted to celebrate Trump, before someone shouted to the stage -- falsely -- "You won!"
Lake narrowly lost the Arizona governor's race in 2022 to Democrat Katie Hobbs after campaigning as a firebrand on immigration, voting and other issues. But has not conceded either that defeat or Trump's loss to President Joe Biden in 2020.
Instead, she has primed supporters for a "too-big-to-rig election on Nov. 5, 2024."
She called on Tuesday for Republicans, independents, and "disaffected Democrats" to join the "America First" movement -- a slight softening from her previous "MAGA" branding -- to defeat Gallego, whom she characterized as a "mini-me Joe Biden."
"I don't think anyone in here agrees with Joe Biden 100% of the time, except Ruben," she said, seeking to depict Gallego as soft on crime and border security. "There's really not a difference between the two -- except maybe like 50, 60 years of age, probably like 8 or 9 inches in height."
Gallego, meanwhile, in his sixth congressional term representing a safely Democratic district, was in Washington on Tuesday after holding a press conference in Nogales on Monday to urge Republicans to pass bipartisan border legislation that would tighten immigration laws, but which some conservatives argue is insufficient.
He has painted Lake, a former news anchor, as a "loser" and an "extremist" while leaning into his experiences as a Marine and son of an immigrant.
On social media this week, he slammed Lake as "an election denier and conspiracy theorist," citing her baseless attacks on the 2020 and 2022 races.
Their expected general election fight, in November, will be closely watched in Washington since the outcome could help determine control of the narrowly divided Senate.
While Lake and Gallego weren't on the ballot Tuesday in Arizona -- their primary race is July 30 -- she told her supporters to be prepared to get out the vote this year "whether that's by mail, whether you vote in person,"after previously questioningthe integrity of mail-in ballots.
"We can't throw our hands up and say the system doesn't work. Of course it doesn't," she claimed. "But we need to get out and get more people to vote."
However, speaking to reporters later, Lake reiterated her previous position that she wants see a single Election Day, despite early, mail-in-voting being a hugely popular method in Arizona for at least three decades.
"I'd like to get back to Election Day ... but we're not in that world right now," she said.
Arizona state Senate President Warren Peterson, standing alongside Lake at Tuesday's election party, and likely well aware that upwards of 70% of Arizonans vote by mail, was quick to chime in.
"I was encouraged to hear President Trump encouraging people to get their early ballots." he said, adding, "I fill [my ballot] out and I turn it in immediately, and for me, that's the best thing I can do to help my candidates because then you stop spending money on trying to get me to vote."
"Republicans used to be the absolute leader on early voting ballots, and I think we're going to do that this time," Peterson said.
'The same person'
Lake is facing criticism or praise, depending on who's asked, regarding whether she's rebranding her image after she disparaged Republicans in the state like the late Sen. John McCain during her unsuccessful gubernatorial run.
"I'm the same person I've always been," she told ABC News on Tuesday. "I'm somebody who cares greatly and deeply about this great state, and I care about my family. I care about our future, care about the U.S. Constitution. I'm working to bring even more people together and nothing's changed in me."U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake, R-Ariz., takes questions at a news conference, Feb. 29, 2024, in Phoenix.
Earlier in the day, as Lake cast her ballot for Trump as the 2024 GOP nominee, asked by another reporter whether she regrets any past statements about Republicans in this state, she indicated some comments were a mistake but didn't offer an outright yes.
"We're all human. We make mistakes. Occasionally, I do as well. I'm not perfect and I never want to hurt feelings. But politics is a rough and tumble game, and sometimes things are said," she said.
Lake recently reached out on social media to McCain's daughter Meghan McCain, a commentator,who swiftly rejected Lake's appeal.
Peterson, the state senate president at Lake's watch party, said that he sees an improving politician.
"I see Kari Lake is learning and she's improving, just like all of us," he said. "We're always learning, we're improving every single day. Now what I've seen that she's doing is she's really focusing on broadening the base, uniting Republicans, and that's why she's leading and that's why she's going to win."
Moving on from 2022?
As Lake campaigns for Senate, she's also lifting up the campaign of fellow Trump endorsee Abe Hamadeh, who narrowly lost the Arizona attorney general's race in 2022 and is now runningfor the 8th Congressional District.
Asked about former Senate candidate Blake Masters, who unsuccessfully ran alongside Lake and Hamadeh in 2022 -- but who is also now running for the same congressional seat as Hamadeh -- Lake appeared taken aback by the question.
She called it "random" after, not along ago, she touted a "Lake and Blake" ticket.
"I can't even remember the last time I talked to him," she told ABC News. "I haven't even heard anything about if he's even running, if he's got the signatures yet. Has he made the ballot yet? Not sure. We'll find out. ... I'm supporting Abe Hamadeh for that congressional seat."
Masters told ABC News on Wednesday that he's not thinking about his relationship with Lake.
"Kari very kindly reached out to me after my son was born a few weeks ago – we had a nice exchange and I appreciated her well wishes very much," he wrote in a text message. "I'm focused on winning in [my district] and then helping our Republican nominees to victory up and down the ballot in this critical state."
Last August, amid reporting that Masters was considering running for Senate again, Lake posted on X that he had been "quite silent" on election fraud issues. (Masters is the only Republican candidate in Arizona who campaigned regularly with Lake to concede their loss.)
Lake didn't ask the crowd on Tuesday to donate to her ongoing election challenges, whichhave been repeatedly rejected. Instead, she asked supporters, several of whom also donned Make America Great Again baseball caps, to pray for Trump as she does "every day, every meal" and to donate to his campaign.
"The evil is just working so hard to try to bring him down, and he will not fold," she said.
She also said she's had conversations with Trump about coming to Arizona "hopefully soon" after it was rumored that he was going to travel to Phoenix last weekend, before he went to Ohio to campaign with Senate candidate Bernie Moreno instead (something Lake did herself, too, on Monday in Ohio).
"There were other campaigns where he went and helped out some of the people he supports -- I wasn't on the ballot today, so we can wait," she said. "We're patiently going to wait for President Trump to come to Arizona."
